Netherlands: shooting of wild boars discussed

As the Dutch province of Gelderland is facing a wild boar plague, voices are
getting louder for a temporal shooting permission for wildlife
rangers.

Several different ways of shooting wild boars have been suggested by forestry
organisations - and even agricultural minister Gerda Verburg is said to be in
favour of shooting the animals, but the Dutch Parliament so far has resisted
permission, mainly for animal welfare reasons.

Some political parties
hope the situation can be changed by other ways than actually killing the
boars.

VeluweIt is claimed that approximately 6,000 wild
boars inhabitate the woody Veluwe area, where biologists say only 800 wild boars
should be living.

Camping site owners complain about their premises
being rooted, farmers see their crops devastated and car-boar collisions on the
major roads are reported daily.

The explosion in the number of wild
boars is related to a mild 2006 winter, which made feed easily available to the
animals.